- Bomb Alley
Infobox VG| title = Bomb Alley
author =Gary Grigsby
publisher =Strategic Simulations Inc.
released =1983
genre =Turn-based strategy
modes =Single player ,Multiplayer
media = 5¼" disk
platforms =Apple II
input = Keyboard"Bomb Alley" is a 1983 computer
war game covering theMediterranean Theatre of World War II . Written by game authorGary Grigsby and published byStrategic Simulations Inc. (SSI), it runs on theApple II platform. It has the distinction of being the first true land-sea-air computer wargame, where ground troops could advance and retreat across land.The game primarily focused on the summer of 1942 when Rommel's forces threatened to capture
Cairo andAlexandria . However, there was an smaller scenario covering theBattle of Crete in 1941. The game used the same engine used by Grigsby's previous "Guadalcanal Campaign", which was coded in uncompiledApplesoft BASIC .Description
Each turn represented twelve hours, with ground and air combat taking place only during daytime turns.
Grigsby expanded the game from "Guadalcanal Campaign" with many new features, such as
transport aircraft ,torpedo boat s, and the ability to useparatroop s once per game. Most important of all was the ability of aircraft to support ground troops in combat.As in the previous game, an AI "player" was available for one side only, but this time it was
the Allies .The Axis had to have a human player. Also in contrast, there were only three scenarios instead of six, and the "long" campaign game ran less than three months.Both sides faced the problem of how to keep their forces supplied, primarily with ship
convoy s, and how best to disrupt the other side's convoys. Where to base the fighters and bombers, which had been obvious in "Guadalcanal Campaign", was now a challenge. Control of the air overAfrica had to be traded off with the air battles overMalta .Reception
The game's greatest weakness was the scoring system, which strongly favored the British. While Malta and
Tobruk were worth 500 points each if the Allies held them, the Axis received only 200 points each for capturing them. The only high-value base for the Axis was capturingAlexandria itself. This meant the Axis had to win decisively or not at all.Fact|date=June 2008Another problem was the limited types of aircraft available. Historically, the Mediterranean Theatre had a wide mix of German, Italian, British, and American bombers and fighters. Grigsby's system accommodated only one fighter type for each side, and only a few bomber types. A review in "
Computer Gaming World " complained about this lack of detail, which may have contributed to "Bomb Alley" selling less well than "Guadalcanal Campaign". [ Karr, Richard Charles, "Bomb Alley: A Review and Analysis", "Computer Gaming World ", Vol. 3, No. 4]There were some bugs in the code, but they did not interfere with the playability of the game. A line of code accidentally carried over from "Guadalcanal Campaign" halved the accuracy of the British
torpedo bomber s from what the manual said. However, they were still able to inflict serious losses on Axis ships. Another bug prevented the major Allied base atGibraltar from receiving additional supplies, but there was a stockpile at the start large enough to last through most games.Modifications
SSI did not release a
patch ed version of the game. However, an unauthorized fan-made Version 2.0 was produced using theApple ProDOS operating system instead of SSI's proprietary RDOS. This version had a number of changes, including to the user interface and the scoring system.References
External links
* [http://project64.c64.org/games/0-l/index.html An electronic version of the manual] at Project 64 Games
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